Chicago City Wire

City of Prospect Heights City Council met Jan. 15

Here are the minutes provided by the council:

CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL – At 6:05 PM, Mayor Ludvigsen called to order the Strategic Planning and Directions Special Meeting at City Hall, 8 N Elmhurst Road, Prospect Heights, IL 60070. 

Deputy Clerk Austin called roll. 

ELECTED OFFICIALS PRESENT - Mayor Ludvigsen, Alderman - Cameron, Anderson, Morgan- Adams, Dash, Dolick 

ABSENT - City Clerk Prisiajniouk with prior notice, Treasurer Tibbits with prior notice

OTHER OFFICIALS PRESENT - City Administrator Wade, Assistant City Administrator Falcone, Deputy Chief Derman, Director of Public Works Roscoe, Building and Development Director Peterson, Finance Director Grieco, Assistant Finance Director Tannehill, Deputy Clerk Austin. 

PUBLIC COMMENT ON AGENDA MATTERS (Five Minute Time Limit) – None 

STRATEGIC PLANNING AND DIRECTIONS PRESENTATIONS 

A. ADMINISTRATION 

1) Informational Accessibility Improvements 

2) Present and Potential Online Services and Features for Residents/Businesses

3) Citywide Bilingual Stipend

Assistant City Administrator Falcone started out by describing the word of the day being accessibility. The hope is to make everything we do more accessible to the residents, so it makes it easier for them, which in turn makes it easier for the city. The administration department is currently rolling out a new agenda and minutes software that will allow residents the ability to search old agendas and minutes based on terms they choose. 

The building department is currently adding software that has easy searchability for different forms of documents. They have a public portal available that allows the public to search for any document that is made public. The hope is that once the building department adds their documents the administration department will be next, which would allow the public to easily access a number of documents. 

The city is also currently undergoing a website redesign which will be a fresh look for the residents. While the redesign is happening some of the more cluttered pages are being cleaned up to make it easier for the public to find the information they are looking for. 

Looking to the future the administration department is hoping to build off the success with the online services of vehicle stickers to eventually add business license and liquor license renewals and applications. The department is currently in the beginning of research process, but the hope is that an application can be found to benefit a number of online services across numerous departments. 

Lastly the administration department is looking to add a bilingual translator stipend. Some employees have this skill set and are using that skill set but aren't compensated for it. The hope is to have this stipend available among all departments. 

B. PUBLIC WORKS 

1) Pending Capital Improvement Projects and Status Update 

2) Possible Future Capital Improvements 

3) Road Resurfacing and Road Improvement Bond Discussion

4) Utility Planning

Director of Public Works Roscoe gives an update on the numerous capital improvement projects around the city. Some highlights include Wolf Road is almost completed, Camp McDonald Road sidewalk is wrapping up phase one engineering, Elmhurst Road North sidewalk is broken into two sections the first was completed in 2024 and the second hopefully in 2026/2027, The City Entry Sign is hopefully completed in spring 2025 and the Public Service Park is hoping to have construction start in spring 2025. 

Director Roscoe gave an update on Levee 37 and the numerous moving parts included in that. The Levee 37 Sluice Gate is currently out for bid by IDNR with a summer 2025 build projection. The Levee 37 wall repair is waiting on IDOT plan review approval, once final approval is received it will be immediately sent out for bid. The final part is to get Levee certification and there has been movement in a joint project with Mount Prospect to gather and present documentation at the appropriate time. 

The next update is on future sidewalk projects. The closest is the waterman sidewalk project with survey work order already submitted. The hope for this project is engineering work and build to happen during summer 2025. Burning Bush Lane is another with engineering tentatively budgeted for 2026/2027. Other sidewalk projects that are on the horizon are Elmhurst Road/83 (Andover Drive to Bike Path), Willow Road (Schoenbeck Road to Elmhurst Road), and Schoenbeck Road (Viola Lane to Hintz Road). 

Road resurfacing and road improvements include a pavement assessment that was pushed from 2023 to 2025. There is an estimated $20k in the 2025 budget for road evaluation. Another topic brought up by Director Roscoe was the deterioration and sub structure failure of roads in certain areas that have been patched over but not fixed at the root of the issue and now some of those roads are failing. There are a few public works vehicles that are starting to show their age so keeping an eye on those over the next few years in case they need replacements. 

Looking at the Metra station there are some parking lots repairs needed and then eventually there will need to be some work done on the stairs. This will be a concrete project that currently looks like a $60k job. 

On the utility planning side of things, the overall goal of Director Roscoe is looking at a way to loop the water system that will prevent against watermain breaks that could leave houses without water. The easiest project is an inner connect with Wheeling that would connect with the Prospect Heights water right by St. Al's church, there has been draft language drawn up about this project. On the horizon there are some water main replacements that will need to take place in the Rob Roy area. 

C. POLICE DEPARTMENT 

1) Police Squad Replacements 

2) Technology Improvements - Body Worn Cameras, Tasers, Wi-fi upgrade, Message Board

3) Staffing Discussion 

4) Remodeling/Parking Considerations

Deputy Chief Derman started with an overview of the past year for the police department and status of where they are at. Then he went on to talk about the police department firewalls needing an update. Some different Wi-Fi upgrades are also needed around the department. The police department is also looking at squad laptop updates. Some current issues with the older models are the cold affects them and also, they get their batteries drained much faster which causes problems when officers need to go out for a service call and can't use the computers. 

Another improvement the police department is looking to make is getting an electronic message board that can go out front of the police station. 

Next Deputy Chief Derman went over the current state of squad cars at the police department. Another idea is to have a dedicated Tourism District Squad car that would patrol that area with a special decal on the side. 

An update that the police department is looking at as well is new tasers. The ones they have now are getting dated and Deputy Chief Derman has already done some research on the costs of what upgrading tasers would be. 

Another idea brought up would be the joining of JEMS (Northwest Central Joint Emergency Management System). This organization does work helping communities when emergency strikes. They have guidelines for different emergencies and will work with municipalities throughout the entire process. 

In an effort to help keep lateral police officers a two-year outlook would be updating the remaining outdated furniture throughout the police department. The estimated outlook would be around $20,000-$30,000. 

In the three-to-five-year outlook Deputy Chief Derman hopes to expand and rebuild the police department parking. In its current state on busy days, they are pressed for parking. Most other police departments around our area also have gated in parking lots for the safety of their officers, the hope is to one day have the same. The downstairs of the police department is another idea of a remodel with tiles starting to deteriorate. 

Other ideas for far down the road are using a power car across all shifts which would help cut down on the transfer of shifts among officers. Another idea is to have two deputy chiefs, one in charge of patrol and investigations and the other for administration and support services. 

D. COMMUNITY AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT 

1) Potential Development Opportunities 

2) Status of Comprehensive Zoning Review 

3) Staffing Discussion

Building and Development Director Peterson gave an overview on the state of the building department to start. He then gave an update on the 1201-1203 Elmhurst Road block of buildings and how they are doing post fire. There are three properties (1327 E Thomas, 1301 S Wolf Rd, and 1098 S Milwaukee Rd) that had new businesses pop up. 

There are potential development opportunities at prospect crossing and wildbrook commons. At prospect crossing there are two out lots subdivision available and then there is a plot of land at wildbrook commons. 

At the Chicago Executive Airport, a closure of runway 6/24 is set to happen and then approximately 35 acres of land in the southwest quadrant of the area will be available for redevelopment. There have been a number of discussions among the airport about what they would like to do and maybe even expand further out in that same direction. 

The land next to city hall was recently sold and the new owner has come to the city to see if they have any interest in the land. The owner originally came up with the idea of subdividing the land into two 20,000 square feet lots and then selling the remaining 17,000 square feet to the city. These are all preliminary discussions, and Director Peterson is looking for some direction from the council. 

Director Peterson gave an update of where the city zoning code re-write is at. He asked for some volunteers to help teska associates brainstorm different ideas as each section gets written. The targeted completion of the zoning code re-write is by the end of 2025. 

Director Peterson shows how the number of permits has gone up every year since 2019 and how the current staff is not totally equipped to get these permits out in the time frame they are hoping to do too. He is looking for a staff member with a permanent part-time role within the building department. He has had a college intern each of the last six summers, but this will be his last so having someone to help with permitting and the backlog of file management would greatly benefit the building department. 

E. FINANCE DEPARTMENT 

1) FY 2025-26 Budget Construction 

2) Discussion of Capital Projects Funding 

3) Pension Obligations and Funding 

4) Investment Expectations

The finance department discusses how the 25/26 budget came together and all the different buckets that in encompasses. The main sections include investment income, police pension contribution, water rate calculation, bond referendum, and capital plan funding. 

Assistant Finance Director Tannehill goes over the cash summary of the city as of 12/31/24. He has a chart that shows year over year how the city is doing in investment earnings. He also discusses how the police pension funding has been going. He mentions that since the large contribution made back in 2022 the minimum required contribution has gone down considerably which is right where the city wants to be. He also shows how the tax levy collections is affected on the chart. 

Finance Director Greico discusses the breakdown of the monthly water rate calculation. It includes delivery charge, infrastructure maintenance charge, debt service charge and water sales charge. She looks for some direction from the council on how to list out the rate components. 

Finance next goes over where the city is at in their debt payoff. There are a few different deadlines coming in 2026 and 2027 that will mark the end of paying off some debt. Finance also goes over where the city is at currently with cash on hand and how capital plan funding is being spread out. 

CITY COUNCIL PLANNING DISCUSSION - None 

PUBLIC COMMENT ON NON-AGENDA MATTERS (Five Minute Time Limit) - None 

ADJOURNMENT – At 9:42 PM, Alderman Morgan-Adams moved to Adjourn; seconded by Alderman Dolick. 

VOICE VOTE: 

Motion carried 5 - 0 

All Ayes, No Nays

https://www.prospect-heights.il.us/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Minutes/_01152025-1490